When a window, glazed door, skylight or the like is manufactured, a glazing pane assembly is typically mounted to a sash frame using an adhesive sealant in a process known as backbedding. A more recent technology, disclosed, for example, in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,288 and 6,536,182, provides an integrated sash in which glazing panes are mounted directly to the sash via sealant. In the process of placing a glazing pane (e.g., glass) onto or into the sealant along the sash glazing surface, the glazing pane may be inadvertently pressed beyond the sealant's recommended sealant thickness/height dimension. A recommended sealant thickness may be required to provide an appropriate amount of such sealant to ensure a sealed airspace that will perform to the “life expectancy” of the sash. Sealant viscosity may vary, and therefore the sealant thickness dimension will vary according to the sealant type applied.
It would be advantageous to provide methods for pressing (or pulling) one or more glazing panes against an adhesive sealant bead (or similar material) on an integrated sash structure without producing excessive spreading (also referred to as excessive “whet-out”) of the material. It would be further advantageous to provide structure in the integrated sash to control, maintain, and/or direct a consistent and appropriate seal thickness between a glazing pane and a structural mounting surface on the sash. It would be still further advantageous to provide structures and fabrication methods for assuring a suitable bond line between the glazing pane and a glazing surface of a window sash. The present invention provides structures and methods having the aforementioned and other advantages.